Apparatus for filling containers with liquid

ABSTRACT

Valve mechanism for filling a miniature bottle in which a bottle rising to a filling position lifts a vertical sleeve from engagement at its end with a seal at the lower end of a tubular center part formed with a slot just above the seal. This enables liquid to run down a double passageway formed between the inner surface of the sleeve and the center part, while air in the bottle escapes through the slot and up the tubular center part. The passages in the double passageway converges to a narrow edge at their lower end and are so disposed in relation to the slot that the liquid is discharged on one side of the seal while the air enters the tubular part on the other side. The tubular part is divided into comparatively rigid upper and lower portions resiliently joined together so that the lower portion can adapt itself precisely to the path of the reciprocable sleeve, which is a neat sliding fit on arcuate surfaces extending along the tubular part.

O Umted States Patent 1 1111 3,776,285 Nicholls Dec. 4, 1973 APPARATUSFOR FILLING CONTAINERS 2,383,700 8/1945 Barker 141 371 x WITH LIQUID2,591,071 4/1952 Huggins.... 141 371 x 3,048,206 8/1962 Keller 141/371[75] Inventor: Arthur Erne Nlcholl 3,722,558 3 1973 Worline 141/65Hornchurch, England [73] Assignee: Farrow and Jackson Limited, PrimaryExaminer-Wayne Mofse,

London, En land Attorney-Laurence H. Pretty [22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 57ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 203,343 1 Valve mechanism for filling aminiature bottle in which a bottle rising to a filling position lifts avertical [30] Forelgn Apphcatlon Pnonty Data sleeve from engagement atits end with a seal at the Dec. 21, 1970 Great Britain 60,565/70 low rnd of a tubular center part formed with a slot just above the seal. Thisenables liquid to run down a Cl 1 1/294, double passageway formedbetween the inner surface of the sleeve and the center part, while airin the botf Cl B651) /0 B679 367111 tle escapes through the slot and upthe tubular center [58] Field of Search 141/386, 371, 354, t, Thpassages in the double passageway con- 65 verges to a narrow edge attheir lower end and are so disposed in relation to the slot that theliquid is dis- References Clted charged on one side of the seal whilethe air enters the UNITED STATES PATENTS tubular part on the other side.The tubular part is di- 1,0s5,s99 2 1914 Fisher 141/294 x vided P Yrigid 1 and lwer P 7; 55 Quam 141/294 tions resiliently joined togetherso that the lower por- 2,76l,606 9/1956 Pahl 141/354 X tion can adaptitself precisely to the path of the recip- 768,965 8/1904 Strasburger...141/294 rocable sleeve, which is a neat sliding fit on arcuate 766,0467/1904 Kreider 141/371 X surfaces extending along the tubular part.2,701,676 2/1955 Day 141/371 X 1,726,479 8/1929 Engle "141/386 x 3Claims, 8 Drawing Figures -39 a? 43 99 z: i 4O Y 38 41 '12 a In t E 7723 PATENTEU UEB 4 I975 SHEET 1 BF 3 PATENTED DEC 4 I975 SHEET 20? 3Fig.3.

F i g. 4.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH LIQUID This invention relates toapparatus for filling containers, particularly bottles, with liquid, andthe type of apparatus with which the invention is concerned is that inwhich the manual or automatic presentation of the container to theapparatus is accompanied by the actuation of valve mechanism thatpermits the liquid to flow into the container while air escapestherefrom. The invention is applicable to various toms of fillingapparatus and is very conveniently applied to gravity-vacuum fillers,that is to say fillers in which air is positively evacuated from thecontainer prior to the entry of the liquid. However, the invention isequally applicable to simple gravity fillers.

A primary object of the invention is to provide valve mechanism, for usein bottle filling apparatus, that is particularly suitable for fillingminiature bottles (e.g., bottles having a content of the order of 2fluid ounces. However, the invention is not limited to apparatus forfilling miniature bottles. The invention may be applied to the fillingof larger bottles and various other forms of containers. The inventionis applicable to the filling of bottles and other containers whethermade of rigid material, e.g. glass, or resilient plastics material.

According to the invention, valve mechanism for filling a containerincludes a valve arranged to project downwards into the top of acontainer to be filled, and comprising a tubular center part, carrying aseal at its lower end, and formed with a lateral port close to the sealand a sleeve mounted to reciprocate on a lower portion of the tubularpart between a position in which it engages the seal to close the valveand a position in which the valve is fully open, the center part andsleeve being formed to provide a passageway extending downwards betweenthem and so arranged in relation to the port that when the valve is openliquidis discharged into the container, on one side of the seal, throughone of the two ducts constituted by the said tubular part and the saidpassageway, while air is discharged from the container, on the oppositeside of the seal, through the other of the two ducts, the lower portionof the tubular part being a substantially rigid member mounted to yieldlaterally so as to adapt itself precisely to the path of thereciprocating sleeve.

Preferably the central tubular part provides the air vent and thepassageway between the vent tube and sleeve delivers the liquid to thecontainer. For this purpose it is convenient for the passageway to bedivided into two parts so as to provide good bearing surfaces for thesleeve in combination with adequate passages for the liquid. Thus, ifthe cross-section of the vent tube is basically circular to fit acircular bore in the sleeve, the passages may be defined by two chordalsurfaces that converge, as viewed in cross-section, towards one side.Then the cross section presents two arcuate surfaces, one substantiallywider than the other, joined by the chordal surfaces, which arepreferably flat. The lateral port is formed centrally at the lower endof the wider arcuate surface.

It will be appreciated that the vent tube has to be of comparativelysubstantial length, in that it has to extend upwards to a point abovethe liquid surface in a supply tank. Therefore, if the vent tube was asingle rigid unit, there would be a danger that its lower end would notregister precisely with the path of the reciprocating sleeve,.with aconsequent danger of undue friction and wear. It is for this reason thatthe lower portion of the vent tube, on which the sleeve reciprocates, isyieldingly attached to the portion of the vent tube that lies above it.Thus, the lower portion may be formed at its upper end with a flangebetween which and the adjacent portion of the vent tube is located anannular cushion such as an o-ring. These portions may be clampedtogether, with a certain amount of lateral clearance, by a threadedsleeve. Therefore, the lower portion of the vent tube can accomodateitself to the path of the reciprocating sleeve.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect a valve mechanism for use in a bottle fillingapparatus will now be described, by way of example, with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:-

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of the mechanism;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of a part of the mechanism of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevation in the direction of the arrow D in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an elevation in the direction of the arrow E in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a section on the line AA in FIG. 2,

FIG. 6 is a section on the line B--B in FIG. 2,

FIG. 7 is an elevation of another part of the mechanism of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 8 shows a detail of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale.

The valve assembly shown in the drawings is used in bottle fillingapparatus having many of the features particularly described in US.Pat..N o. 3,474,835 and the valve assembly itself has some of thosefeatures. Thus, the liquid to be received by the bottles is contained ina tank in which the liquid level is maintained by a float controlledvalve and in which a vacuum of aboutthree inches of mercury ismaintained above the liquid in the tank. A number of the valveassemblies are fixed in a circle round the bottom 1 of the tank and eachof these is furnished with an air vent tube 2 that rises above theliquid level in the tank. An equivalent number of jacks forautomatically raising and lowering the bottles to be filled, are mountedtogether with the filling apparatus, on a continuously revolvingsupport, so that each bottle may be picked up at one point from, forexample, a straight line conveyor, and then carried round while beingraised, filled and lowered, to be discharged in time for the jack toreceive another bottle at the point.

Each valve assembly includes a body 3 secured to the bottom 1 of thetank in register with an opening through which theliquid passes to aspace 4 in the body 3 and thence through ports 5 to filling tube 6 downwhich the liquid flows outside a center vent tube 7 mounted axially inthe filling tube 6 and providing a connection between the upper venttube 2 and a lower vent tube 8.

The parts of the valve assembly so far described all remain stationarywith respect to the tank, but slidably mounted on the outside surface ofthe center vent tube 7 is a slide 9 to the lower end of which is fixed asleeve 10 through which the lower vent tube 8 projects. The slide 9 andsleeve 10 are shown on the left-hand side of FIG. 1 in their lowermostposition, in which the valve is closed. On the right-hand side, theseparts are shown in their uppermost position determined by the engagementof a flange 11 on the slide 9 with a surface 12 in the body 3. In thisposition the valve is fully open. When the valve is closed, the lowerend of the sleeve bears on a seal 13 on a tip 14 fixed to the end of thelower vent tube 8, contact being maintained by a compression spring 15interposed between a surface 16 in the body 3 and a flange 17 on theslide 9. The slide 9 is a composite structure including an internalsleeve 9a of polytetrafluoroethylene (having a toughening filler), thatslides on the filling tube 6, with an internal seal 18, a sleeve 9b onwhich the flange 11 is formed and to which the sleeve 10 is fixed, andan outer cylinder 9c formed at its upper end with an internal flange l9bearing on top of the sleeve 9a and at its lower end formed with theflange 17.

Very briefly, the action (described in greater below) of the valve isthat, to open the valve, the top of a bottle neck, as it is raised forfilling, is pressed against a rubber seal 20 on the base of the slide 9and raises the slide 9 and sleeve 10 against the action of the spring 15to uncover a slot 21 in the lower vent tube 8. Thus, by way of thelower, center and upper vent tubes 8, 7, 2, the pressure in the bottlebecomes equal to that above the liquid in the tank, allowing the liquidto run down, outside the composite vent tube 8, 7, in the path definedby the filling tube 6 and the sleeve 10, to be discharged into thebottle. It will be noted that the filling tube 6 discharges into aconvergent part 22 of the passage through the sleeve 9b leading to thecomparatively fine bore sleeve 10. Plastics spacers 23 of differentthicknesses may be interposed between the seal 20 and the flange 1 1 toprovide the required filling level in the bottle.

The form of the lower vent tube 8 will now be described with particularreference to FIGS. 2 to 6. This tube has a bore 24 extending axiallythrough its entire length. Over the major portion of its length it isformed on opposite sides with two flat faces 25 which, in crosssection,are at to one another (FIG. 5). Between these two flat faces, therefore,are two arcuate surfaces 26, 27 on which the sleeve 10 is a sliding fit.The flat faces 25 flare out at 28 (FIGS. 2, 3) to a cylindrical portion29 at the lower end of the vent tube. The slot 21 provides communicationbetween the bore 24 and the curved surface of the portion 29 on the sideof the arcuate surface 27.

The lower end of the bore 24 is closed by the tip 14, which has a spigot30 (FIG. 7) screwed into the bore 24. A cylindrical part 31 of the tipis interposed between the spigot 30 and an annular platform 32 on whichthe seal 13 rests. The part 31 presents a surface 33 which bearsdirectly against the bottom surface 34 of the lower vent tube 8. Theseal 13 may be made of an acetal resin such as that known under theRegistered Trade Mark Delrin.

It will be appreciated that, to avoid contamination of the liquid, it isimpossible to use any form of lubricant between the surfaces 26, 27, 29of the lower vent tube 8 and the inner surface of the reciprocatingsleeve 10. Like all the other parts mentioned above (except whereotherwise specified), the tube 8 and sleeve 10 are made of stainlesssteel. Moreover, the lower vent tube 8 is provided with a hard chromefinish. However, in addition it has been found very advantageous tomount the comparatively rigid lower vent tube 8 so that it can beresiliently displaced slightly relatively to the comparatively rigidcentre vent tube 7, to enable it to accommodate itself as precisely aspossible to the bore of the sleeve 10. For this purpose the upper end ofthe lower vent tube 8 is provided with a flange 38 (FIG. 8) above whichextends a short spigot 39 that enters the center vent tube 7. A rubberO-ring 40 is interposed between the flange 38 and the lower end of thecentre vent tube 7 and these parts are clamped together by an internalshoulder 41 on a sleeve 42, screwed onto the center vent tube 7. Theresilience of the O-ring 40 and the clearances are such as to enable thelower vent tube to take up a slightly inclined position or to betranslated slightly in a horizontal direction with respect to the centervent tube 7. This tube 7 is rigidly located in the filling tube 6 byradial fins 43, and is rigidly secured at its upper end.

In operation, a bottle rising to be filled engages a nylon member 44that has an internal conical passage, fixed to vertical pins 45 guidedin bearings in the body 3, and is centred by the member 44 throughoutthe filling process. When the sleeve 10 has opened the slot 21, thevacuum in the tank can draw back into the tank liquid that has collectedin the vent tubes at the end of the filling of the previous bottle andthe reduction of pressure in the bottle enables the liquid to run downinside the filling tube 6 and sleeve 10. This liquid travels down theflat faces 25 of the lower vent tube and is discharged into the bottleabove the tip on one side thereof. The divided liquid stream flowingdown the faces 25 unites as it leaves the flared parts 28 of thesefaces, because the lower end of the arcuate surface 26 tapers to anarrow edge 28a (FIG. 4). Residual air escapes from the bottle on theother side of the tip 14, passing through the slot 21 and up the venttubes 8, 7, 2 to the tank. The filling stops when the liquid reaches thelower edge of the sleeve 10, when in its uppermost position. However,the liquid, which continues to flow down the sleeve 10, now findsits waythrough the slot 21 and up the vent tubes. This liquid can rise as highas the liquid level in the tank. When the bottle recedes, any flow downthe sleeve 10 is stopped when its lower end passes the flared ends 28 ofthe flat faces 25 and is finally sealed when the seal 13 is reached.

When the apparatus is used for simple gravity filling, without theapplication of reduced pressure above the surface of the liquid in thetank, the filling of each bottle is slower because there is nodifferential pressure to remove the residual liquid from the vent tube.Instead, when the slot 21 is opened by the raising of the sleeve 10, theliquid remaining in the vent tube runs down under gravity into thebottle, building up a slight increase in pressure in the bottle. Whenthe vent tube has been cleared, normal filling takes place with theliquid running down the outside of the lower vent tube 8 and driving theair out of the bottle up the inside of the vent tube.

The apparatus shown in the drawings is designed for filling miniaturebottles, for example, one and twothirds or 2 fluid ounces. The diameterof the tip 14 is, in this example, 0.340 inches.

I claim:

1. A valve mechanism for filling a generally vertical container, such asa bottle, with liquid, said valve mechanism comprising:

a generally vertical, upper tube;

a generally vertical, lower tube adapted to extend downwardly into thecontainer;

connecting means connecting said lower tube to said upper tube in axialalignment therewith to create a continuous first passage through saidtubes, said connecting means enabling limited resilient deflection ofsaid lower tube out of alignment with said upper tube;

a sleeve mounted on said lower tube for sliding motion thereon;

guide means guiding said sleeve for reciprocating motion in a path ingeneral axial alignment with said upper tube;

and said lower tube further including,

two axially extending bearing surfaces on opposite sides of said lowertube in continuous sealing contact with said sleeve,

- two axially extending, spaced surfaces, said spaced and bearingsurfaces extending in continuous peripheral relation to define the outersurface of said lower tube, said spaced surfaces disposed in spacedrelation from the interior of said sleeve to define two second passagesextending axially between said lower tube and said sleeve,

a seal extending about at least a portion of the periphery of the lowerend of said lower tube,

a lateral slot in one of said bearing surfaces, said slot communicatingwith said first passage, said slot spaced closely above said seal, saidsecond passages being positioned on opposite sides of the other of saidbearing surfaces;

said sleeve in a lower position thereof having its lower end inengagement with said seal to close said slot and said second passagesfrom communication with the interior of the container, movement of saidsleeve to a raised position out of engagement with said seal exposingsaid slot and said second passages to the interior of the container tocause liquid to discharge from said second passages on the side of saidlower tube adjacent said other bearing surface into the container whileair escapes from the container through the said first passage, saidconnecting means enabling said lower tube to align itself coaxially withsaid sleeve whereby wear of said sleeve is minimized duringreciprocating motion thereof along said lower tube.

2. A valve mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein said sleeve and saidlower tube are of substantially circular cross-section,

said bearing surfaces constituting unequal, major and minor arcuatesurfaces, and wherein,

said spaced surfaces constitute chordal surfaces extending between saidarcuate surfaces and converging toward said minor arcuate surface, saidslot being positioned in said major arcuate surface and the liquiddischarging on the side of said tube adjacent said minor arcuatesurface.

3. A valve mechanism as defined in claim 2, in which said minor arcuatesurface at the lower end thereof tapers to a narrow edge so that the twostreams of liquid passing down said second passages unite as they emergefrom the valve.

1. A valve mechanism for filling a generally vertical container, such asa bottle, with liquid, said valve mechanism comprising: a generallyvertical, upper tube; a generally vertical, lower tube adapted to extenddownwardly into the container; connecting means connecting said lowertube to said upper tube in axial alignment therewith to create acontinuous first passage through said tubes, said connecting meansenabling limited resilient deflection of said lower tube out ofalignment with said upper tube; a sleeve mounted on said lower tube forsliding motion thereon; guIde means guiding said sleeve forreciprocating motion in a path in general axial alignment with saidupper tube; and said lower tube further including, two axially extendingbearing surfaces on opposite sides of said lower tube in continuoussealing contact with said sleeve, two axially extending, spacedsurfaces, said spaced and bearing surfaces extending in continuousperipheral relation to define the outer surface of said lower tube, saidspaced surfaces disposed in spaced relation from the interior of saidsleeve to define two second passages extending axially between saidlower tube and said sleeve, a seal extending about at least a portion ofthe periphery of the lower end of said lower tube, a lateral slot in oneof said bearing surfaces, said slot communicating with said firstpassage, said slot spaced closely above said seal, said second passagesbeing positioned on opposite sides of the other of said bearingsurfaces; said sleeve in a lower position thereof having its lower endin engagement with said seal to close said slot and said second passagesfrom communication with the interior of the container, movement of saidsleeve to a raised position out of engagement with said seal exposingsaid slot and said second passages to the interior of the container tocause liquid to discharge from said second passages on the side of saidlower tube adjacent said other bearing surface into the container whileair escapes from the container through the said first passage, saidconnecting means enabling said lower tube to align itself coaxially withsaid sleeve whereby wear of said sleeve is minimized duringreciprocating motion thereof along said lower tube.
 2. A valve mechanismas defined in claim 1, wherein said sleeve and said lower tube are ofsubstantially circular cross-section, said bearing surfaces constitutingunequal, major and minor arcuate surfaces, and wherein, said spacedsurfaces constitute chordal surfaces extending between said arcuatesurfaces and converging toward said minor arcuate surface, said slotbeing positioned in said major arcuate surface and the liquiddischarging on the side of said tube adjacent said minor arcuatesurface.
 3. A valve mechanism as defined in claim 2, in which said minorarcuate surface at the lower end thereof tapers to a narrow edge so thatthe two streams of liquid passing down said second passages unite asthey emerge from the valve.